A Suffolk Conservative Group leader has been told he will not be allowed to sit on the council's planning committee until at least May 2024 after being found to have breached the Code of Conduct.

Babergh's Simon Barrett, who is also the chairman of the South Suffolk Conservative Association and currently represents the Great Cornard ward, has also been told he must make an apology to Babergh's planning committee, including councillors and officers, following his behaviour at a meeting on January 25 this year.

The Local Conservative candidate for Sudbury North East in this year's election, has also been told by Babergh's Monitoring Officer he must undergo further training on the Nolan Principles (councillor behaviour guidelines) after was found guilty of displaying rude and aggressive behaviour towards officers, members of the public and other members of the committee.

All sanctions will come into effect if Cllr Barrett is re-elected in the May 4 Babergh elections.

Simon Barrett banned for bad behaviour

A number of committee members, officers and members of the public at the meeting were disturbed by Cllr Barrett's behaviour and Independent Cllr Alastair McCraw made a formal complaint, which was upheld.

In his defence made to the monitoring officer, Cllr Barrett argued that while he accepted he may have expressed robust language, as a councillor he considers it is his role to challenge, criticise and disagree with views. He also felt that the questions and debate had covered all the issues in the application and much of what was being said was a repeat.

Regarding East Bergholt's Neighbourhood Plan, Cllr Barrett feels that the plan based on 82 houses over a 15-year period was not delivering on the Council's housing requirements from a core village. Cllr Barrett felt that the application before the committee fulfilled all the conditions of the plan.

He maintained he was not there to purely reflect the parish position but to also listen to the applicants' point of view, and balance the public interest with any harm, the economic benefits to the village economy in his judgement were better served by allowing the application to be approved.

Cllr Barrett stated that his commitment to the planning committee remained strong, and he was very happy to have robust debate to achieve a balanced and appropriate outcome.

However, the Babergh monitoring officer ruled while councillors must be allowed to give their point of view even if it is hotly disputed by others, this is essential to freedom of expression. Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights which protects members rights to hold their own opinions and to express them freely, this must be balanced against the interests of society.

She added: "On this occasion although finely balanced, I consider that the threshold for breaching the Code of Conduct has been reached.

She also found that after interviewing officers present at the meeting some officers expressed the view that they whilst they agreed that they were subject to a wider level of acceptable criticism they had felt so uncomfortable with cllr Barrett's actions and behaviour at the meeting to a point that they did not want to return to another Planning meeting where councillor Barrett may be in attendance.

The monitoring officer also found disrespectful behaviour can take many different forms from overt acts of abuse and disruptive or bad behaviour to insidious actions such as bullying and the demeaning treatment of others. It is subjective and difficult to define. However, it is important to remember that any behaviour that a reasonable person would think would influence the willingness of fellow councillors, officers, or members of the public to speak up or interact with you because they expect the encounter will be unpleasant or highly uncomfortable fits the definition of disrespectful behaviour.

She added: "From the interviews obtained there is evidence that fellow councillors, officers, and members of the public have found the Planning Committee highly uncomfortable because of councillor Simon Barrett's actions and behaviour."

The monitoring officer conceded: "Councillor Simon Barrett must be reminded that while he may enter into robust debate, he should be mindful not to make any comments that could be seen to discredit officers and must not make his comments personal.

"He should also give thought to the Nolan principles when undertaking his role as a councillor."

Cllr Barrett was contacted for comment but failed to respond.

Cllr McCraw said:

"I'm very happy that the importance of the Nolan Principles and civility to everybody involved in public life has also been upheld by this ruling.

"I'm also very sorry that I found it necessary to make the complaint at all. Our officers are deserving of our full respect in giving their professional advice, whether we like that advice or not."

A spokesperson for East Bergholt parish council said:

"East Bergholt Parish Council were deeply disappointed that Mr Barrett did not take East Bergholt's Neighbourhood Plan policies seriously at Babergh's Planning Committee meeting and in his prejudicial behaviour at the committee.

"Our representative at the meeting complained to the monitoring officer and we are pleased to see that the complaint is upheld and the just redress proposed."

A Babergh spokesperson added: "We won't comment on individual live Code of Conduct cases, but we can confirm that a complaint has been looked into, a ruling made and all parties involved informed of the outcome and next steps."

Poor behaviour among South Suffolk Conservatives is not uncommon, with Cllr Barrett leading the way with his boorish behaviour which in the past has has reduced officers to tears.

List of Barrett's misdemeanours.

Cllr Barrett is not the first Conservative to be barred from sitting on the planning committees in the past year.

Hadleigh North's Sian Dawson was told she could not sit on the committee after she breached the rules by revealing a document she should not have, something she denied, but it was proven she had and she was removed from the planning committee.

Dawson is standing again in the Babergh elections as a Local Conservative.

List of Dawson's misdemeanours.